Conservation Groups QuestionPort's Dumping on West Hayden Island

Conservation groups are raising new questions this week about a recent dredge-and-dump operation involving an environmentally sensitive part of North Portland.

Portland Audubon and Willamette Riverkeeper say the Port of Portland dumped contaminated dredge material on West Hayden Island, making the site only suitable for industrial uses -- like the ones the port is hoping to get approved.

The port says it did recently dump more than 20,000 tons of material from the Portland harbor at West Hayden Island. But port officials argue it isn't very different from what has been dumped before.

Oregon's Department of Environmental Quality says the Port got a new kind of permit to do the dumping. The permit allows dumping material that would otherwise go to a landfill.

It allows dumping if there is "beneficial use" -- such as fill for an industrial site. That's the kind of site the Port plans to create for West Hayden Island, to expand its shipping capacity. But the port argues the site could be cleaned up, if plans change.